A NEWTON Abbot student has spent a week working with a housing developer to find out about life in the construction industry.

Gabriel Ridley, who is in Year 10 at Newton Abbot College, was one of two students who had week’s work experience with Persimmon Homes at their office in Plymouth. 

He wanted to see whether construction is a good fit for him and whether he will follow in his father’s footsteps, who works in architecture technical management.  

He said: ‘I’ve really enjoyed my work experience with Persimmon Homes because you get to see how real world processes work and what a professional work environment is like.’

Persimmon Homes Cornwall and West Devon’s managing director Adam Church said: ‘We were very happy to welcome Gabriel to the company for the week to get some real-world experience of the workplace, particularly for a firm that’s in the construction sector.

‘For us at Persimmon, it is essential that young people get a chance to better understand what housebuilders like us do as our industry is one that needs to grow to meet housing demand, especially for those generations that are struggling to get on the housing ladder.’